NEWS & EVENTS - GENERAL
4 July 2006
Zim pilots receive their money
General
The following is a (very) rough extract from an Afrikaans article that appeared in Beeld:Administrative problems regarding the salary payments to the Zimbabwean flying instructors at the Airforces' flying school at Langebaanweg have been sorted o...
30 June 2006
Last flight for 17 Squadron Alouettes
General
In a final mass flypast, eight of 17 Squadrons Alouette III helicopters were flown around the north Johannesburg/Pretoria area, in what could very well be their last flight in 17 Squadron service. Three of the helicopters are reportedly going to the ...
21 June 2006
Initial Hawk instructors go solo!
General
Wednesday the 21st of June 2006 marked a great day in 85 CFS history as the Initial Cadre on the Hawk Mk 120 achieved SOLO status. All six pilots went through a refresher training after the long layoff and all went solo today. Refresher training was ...
19 June 2006
3 ASU achieves major milestone: Cheetah 352 wing change
General
Capt Jaques Greylingh (A/C Mech Off 3 ASU)All scheduled maintenance on Cheetah aircraft at AFB Makhado has been converted to calendar-based instead of flying hour based due to the shortage of technical personnel and the fact that the projected schedu...
8 June 2006
Photos of Hawks arriving at AFB Makhado
General
The SAAF took delivery of its first two Hawk Mark 120 lead-in fighter trainers on 24 May 2006 at AFB Makhado (MKD). The two Hawks (251 and 252) were accepted and delivered to MKD and a formal event was held on arrival of the aircraft at the Base. ...
31 May 2006
Target date for missile service entry revealed
General
The Brazilian Air Force (Fab) has reported that Denel's A-Darter air-to-air missile, currently under development, should enter service in 2015. Brazil has committed $52-million for the completion of the A-Darter project - this amounts to half of ...
31 May 2006
Air force lacks Hawk instructors
General
Graeme HoskenThere is no one in the South African Air Force (SAAF) qualified to train pilots to fly the new generation of Hawk lead-in fighter trainers, four of which were delivered last week.The new Hawk is to be used to train the country's up-a...
31 May 2006
Waterkloof base may close
General
SA Air Force cost-cutting raises a big question-mark over the city's famous facility A threat is hanging over the continued existence of a prominent Pretoria military landmark - Air Force Base Waterkloof. The threat of closure of the air force ba...
30 May 2006
Air force to scale down
General
Pretoria - The SA Air Force plans to scale down operations at certain of its bases, including the two fighter bases at Hoedspruit and Makhado in Limpopo. The chief of the air force, Lieutenant General Carlo Gagiano said on Tuesday this was part of pl...
24 May 2006
SAAF gets first hawks
General
The SA Air Force on Wednesday took delivery of its first two Hawk Mark 120 lead-in fighter trainers. The air force will receive 10 of the aircraft from Denel and BAE Systems in the next few weeks. Parts of the aircraft are locally manufactured, other...
4 May 2006
Last Formation Flight and short history of the Alouette III
General
Article by Capt Y. ter Wolbeek - Corporate Communication Officer at AFB BloemspruitInfo on history supplied by Maj Jaco Steynberg - 87 Helicopter Flying SchoolOn 4 May 2006 the Alouette III's at AFB Bloemspruit participated in a final formation f...
24 April 2006
South African Super Lynx 300 First Flight
General
The first of four Super Lynx 300 helicopters for South Africa took to the air for the first time on 24th April 2006 at AgustaWestland's Yeovil factory in the UK. The successful first flight was witnessed by Mr Francois Kotze, Programme Manager, A...
19 April 2006
Ex-SAAF Impala in Brazilian Air Force service
General
It would seem that the Airforce Monthly report on 1 April 2006 that the three ex-SAAF Impala MkII aircraft acquired the Forca Aerea Brasileira (FAB - Brazilian Air Force) would be used as a spares source may have been premature.The FAB has released a...
19 April 2006
Mirage F1s sold to Gabon?
General
A rumour has been circulating that Gabon has purchased the withdrawn SAAF Mirage F1-AZ fleet for R40m....
14 April 2006
South Africa tests joint air defence
General
The South African Air Force (SAAF) used Exercise 'New Horizon 8' to "demonstrate the capability of integrating civilian radars, civilian flight plan data, strobe data, shipping information, ground-based air-defence and naval air-defence ...
14 April 2006
UK group ponders Denel opportunities
General
British Aerospace and defence industrial giant BAE Systems has had its interest in South African State-owned defence industrial group Denel piqued again by the latter's proposed restructuring strategy."We looked at Denel for quite a long per...
11 April 2006
New SAAF Lynx spotted
General
It was reported on SAAF News that a Super Lynx 300 was seen outside Westlands on Wednesday 5th April. The aircraft was rotorless, light grey in colour and was fully painted in both South African and U K marks as follows:-191 S A Navy ZK 115 all on bo...
9 April 2006
Wreckage of SAAF Cessna found
General
The following was posted on SAAF News:On 25 November 1975 a Cessna piloted by Lt KA Williamson and 2 passengers Lt E Thompson SAAF and Captain D J Taljaard S A Army was shot down in the vicinity of Ebo in Angola. I can confirm that the wreckage of th...
7 April 2006
SAAF has received seven LUH helicopters
General
Speaking at the occassion of the arrival of S101 SAS Manthatisi (the SA Navy's first type 209 submarine), Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota stated that the Air Force had received seven of the 30 ordered Agusta A109 Light Utility Helicopters....
7 April 2006
Arrival of new submarine S101
General
Amid great fanfare, the first of the Navy's three new Type 209 (Class 1400MOD (SA)) (SSK) submarines arrived in Simon's Town on 7 April 2006. S101 had completed a marathon passage from the Kiel shipyard in Germany, via Norway, under the comma...
3 April 2006
Hawk program is on course
General
The following is a (very) rough extract from an Afrikaans article that appeared in Sake Beeld:The Hawk lead-in fighter trainer program, which will renew that aspect of the airforces training, is on course despite problems with the computer programmin...
1 April 2006
Brazil Acquires ex-SAAF Impalas
General
Acting on behalf of the Forca Aerea Brasileira (FAB - Brazilian Air Force), the Brazilian Government has purchased a small follow-on batch of former SAAF Atlas MB.326KC Impala MkII strike fighters and operational trainers. The deal gained official SA...
30 March 2006
Pilatus Astra breaks 100 000 barrier
General
Members of AFB Langebaanweg proudly celebrated 100 000 flying hours on the training fleet of Pilatus Astra PC7 MkII aircraft on Thursday 30 March 2006. Capt William 'Mayhem' Norval, Central Flying School solo display pilot, entertained the in...
24 March 2006
More details revealed about A-Darter cooperation project
General
The $52-million that Brazil has released to invest in South Africa's A-Darter infrared homing air-to-air missile programme will amount to 50% of the total amount required to complete the development of the weapon, reports Brazilian defence news w...
24 March 2006
Navy Festival - Simon's Town
General
Ahoy Maties!The SA Navy held its annual SA Navy Festival at Simon's Town from Friday 24 March to Sunday 26 March 2006.As an aviation enthusiast with an interest in the military, I'm also very interested in the Navy, so I made my way to Simon&...
Zim pilots receive their money
General
The following is a (very) rough extract from an Afrikaans article that appeared in Beeld:Administrative problems regarding the salary payments to the Zimbabwean flying instructors at the Airforces' flying school at Langebaanweg have been sorted o...
Last flight for 17 Squadron Alouettes
General
In a final mass flypast, eight of 17 Squadrons Alouette III helicopters were flown around the north Johannesburg/Pretoria area, in what could very well be their last flight in 17 Squadron service. Three of the helicopters are reportedly going to the ...
Initial Hawk instructors go solo!
General
Wednesday the 21st of June 2006 marked a great day in 85 CFS history as the Initial Cadre on the Hawk Mk 120 achieved SOLO status. All six pilots went through a refresher training after the long layoff and all went solo today. Refresher training was ...
3 ASU achieves major milestone: Cheetah 352 wing change
General
Capt Jaques Greylingh (A/C Mech Off 3 ASU)All scheduled maintenance on Cheetah aircraft at AFB Makhado has been converted to calendar-based instead of flying hour based due to the shortage of technical personnel and the fact that the projected schedu...
Photos of Hawks arriving at AFB Makhado
General
The SAAF took delivery of its first two Hawk Mark 120 lead-in fighter trainers on 24 May 2006 at AFB Makhado (MKD). The two Hawks (251 and 252) were accepted and delivered to MKD and a formal event was held on arrival of the aircraft at the Base. ...
Target date for missile service entry revealed
General
The Brazilian Air Force (Fab) has reported that Denel's A-Darter air-to-air missile, currently under development, should enter service in 2015. Brazil has committed $52-million for the completion of the A-Darter project - this amounts to half of ...
Air force lacks Hawk instructors
General
Graeme HoskenThere is no one in the South African Air Force (SAAF) qualified to train pilots to fly the new generation of Hawk lead-in fighter trainers, four of which were delivered last week.The new Hawk is to be used to train the country's up-a...
Waterkloof base may close
General
SA Air Force cost-cutting raises a big question-mark over the city's famous facility A threat is hanging over the continued existence of a prominent Pretoria military landmark - Air Force Base Waterkloof. The threat of closure of the air force ba...
Air force to scale down
General
Pretoria - The SA Air Force plans to scale down operations at certain of its bases, including the two fighter bases at Hoedspruit and Makhado in Limpopo. The chief of the air force, Lieutenant General Carlo Gagiano said on Tuesday this was part of pl...
SAAF gets first hawks
General
The SA Air Force on Wednesday took delivery of its first two Hawk Mark 120 lead-in fighter trainers. The air force will receive 10 of the aircraft from Denel and BAE Systems in the next few weeks. Parts of the aircraft are locally manufactured, other...
Last Formation Flight and short history of the Alouette III
General
Article by Capt Y. ter Wolbeek - Corporate Communication Officer at AFB BloemspruitInfo on history supplied by Maj Jaco Steynberg - 87 Helicopter Flying SchoolOn 4 May 2006 the Alouette III's at AFB Bloemspruit participated in a final formation f...
South African Super Lynx 300 First Flight
General
The first of four Super Lynx 300 helicopters for South Africa took to the air for the first time on 24th April 2006 at AgustaWestland's Yeovil factory in the UK. The successful first flight was witnessed by Mr Francois Kotze, Programme Manager, A...
Ex-SAAF Impala in Brazilian Air Force service
General
It would seem that the Airforce Monthly report on 1 April 2006 that the three ex-SAAF Impala MkII aircraft acquired the Forca Aerea Brasileira (FAB - Brazilian Air Force) would be used as a spares source may have been premature.The FAB has released a...
Mirage F1s sold to Gabon?
General
A rumour has been circulating that Gabon has purchased the withdrawn SAAF Mirage F1-AZ fleet for R40m....
South Africa tests joint air defence
General
The South African Air Force (SAAF) used Exercise 'New Horizon 8' to "demonstrate the capability of integrating civilian radars, civilian flight plan data, strobe data, shipping information, ground-based air-defence and naval air-defence ...
UK group ponders Denel opportunities
General
British Aerospace and defence industrial giant BAE Systems has had its interest in South African State-owned defence industrial group Denel piqued again by the latter's proposed restructuring strategy."We looked at Denel for quite a long per...
New SAAF Lynx spotted
General
It was reported on SAAF News that a Super Lynx 300 was seen outside Westlands on Wednesday 5th April. The aircraft was rotorless, light grey in colour and was fully painted in both South African and U K marks as follows:-191 S A Navy ZK 115 all on bo...
Wreckage of SAAF Cessna found
General
The following was posted on SAAF News:On 25 November 1975 a Cessna piloted by Lt KA Williamson and 2 passengers Lt E Thompson SAAF and Captain D J Taljaard S A Army was shot down in the vicinity of Ebo in Angola. I can confirm that the wreckage of th...
SAAF has received seven LUH helicopters
General
Speaking at the occassion of the arrival of S101 SAS Manthatisi (the SA Navy's first type 209 submarine), Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota stated that the Air Force had received seven of the 30 ordered Agusta A109 Light Utility Helicopters....
Arrival of new submarine S101
General
Amid great fanfare, the first of the Navy's three new Type 209 (Class 1400MOD (SA)) (SSK) submarines arrived in Simon's Town on 7 April 2006. S101 had completed a marathon passage from the Kiel shipyard in Germany, via Norway, under the comma...
Hawk program is on course
General
The following is a (very) rough extract from an Afrikaans article that appeared in Sake Beeld:The Hawk lead-in fighter trainer program, which will renew that aspect of the airforces training, is on course despite problems with the computer programmin...
Brazil Acquires ex-SAAF Impalas
General
Acting on behalf of the Forca Aerea Brasileira (FAB - Brazilian Air Force), the Brazilian Government has purchased a small follow-on batch of former SAAF Atlas MB.326KC Impala MkII strike fighters and operational trainers. The deal gained official SA...
Pilatus Astra breaks 100 000 barrier
General
Members of AFB Langebaanweg proudly celebrated 100 000 flying hours on the training fleet of Pilatus Astra PC7 MkII aircraft on Thursday 30 March 2006. Capt William 'Mayhem' Norval, Central Flying School solo display pilot, entertained the in...
More details revealed about A-Darter cooperation project
General
The $52-million that Brazil has released to invest in South Africa's A-Darter infrared homing air-to-air missile programme will amount to 50% of the total amount required to complete the development of the weapon, reports Brazilian defence news w...
Navy Festival - Simon's Town
General
Ahoy Maties!The SA Navy held its annual SA Navy Festival at Simon's Town from Friday 24 March to Sunday 26 March 2006.As an aviation enthusiast with an interest in the military, I'm also very interested in the Navy, so I made my way to Simon&...
